Data protection basics for small Nigerian businesses
If you hold customer names, phone numbers or employee records, data protection obligations generally apply to you.
Read articlePractice area
Regulatory Compliance
Compliance is not a filing cabinet. It is a set of habits that keeps a business out of avoidable trouble.
Overview
What this work involves
Nigerian businesses sit under layered obligations: corporate registry, tax, sector regulators, data protection, and in some industries licensing regimes with their own reporting cycles.
Few businesses fail compliance because they refused to comply. They fail because nobody mapped what applied to them. We work out what attaches to your actual operations, turn it into a calendar with named owners, and help you deal with regulators when something needs to be filed or corrected.
What we help clients with
The work, set out plainly.
Regulatory mapping
Identifying the registrations, licences and reporting obligations that apply to your activities and sector.
Compliance calendars and policies
Turning obligations into scheduled tasks with named owners, plus the internal policies that support them.
Data protection
Advising on obligations under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, including privacy notices, consent practices and data handling.
Licensing and permits
Supporting applications, renewals and the correspondence that goes with them.
Regulator correspondence
Responding to queries, notices and requests for information.
Compliance reviews
Checking how a business actually operates against what its obligations require.
Typical matters
Examples of instructions in this area.
These illustrate the kind of work this practice area covers. They are not descriptions of specific client matters.
- Mapping obligations for a business entering a new sector
- Preparing a privacy notice and internal data handling policy
- Building an annual compliance calendar
- Supporting a licence application or renewal
- Advising on a regulator's request for information
Frequently asked questions
Questions we are asked most often.
It depends on what you actually do, not what your certificate says. Almost every registered company has registry and tax obligations. Beyond that, sector drives it: financial services, health, food and drugs, energy, education and telecommunications each have their own. Mapping this is usually the first work we do.
If you handle personal data about people in Nigeria, obligations generally apply regardless of size, though what is proportionate differs. The starting point is knowing what data you hold, why, and who you share it with.
It is usually fixable, and better addressed deliberately than left to be discovered. Depending on the obligation there may be late filing penalties or a remediation process. We help clients establish the position, prioritise, and deal with the regulator.
For most growing businesses, once a year plus a check whenever something material changes: a new product, market, funding round or category of data.
These answers are general.
They describe how things usually work, not how they will work in your situation. Requirements
and timelines change. Please take advice before acting.
Related insights
Further reading
How to build a compliance calendar that people actually use
Most compliance failures are not decisions. They are dates that passed while everyone was busy.
Read articleChoosing the right business structure in Nigeria
Sole proprietorship, partnership or limited company? The choice affects your liability, your tax position and your ability to raise money.
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